America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip In Search Of Non-Corporate USA

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America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip In Search Of Non-Corporate USA

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 703 ratings · 62 reviews

The plan was simple. Go to America. Buy a second-hand car. Drive coast-to-coast without giving any money to The ManT. What could possibly go wrong?

Dismayed by the relentless onslaught of faceless American chains muscling in where local businesses had once thrived, Dave Gorman set off on the ultimate American road trip - in search of the true, independent heart of the U S o...more

Paperback, 378 pages

Published 2008 by Ebury Press (first published April 3rd 2007)

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Aug 09, 2011 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

An excellent travelogue of Dave Gorman's attempt to wipe the memory of a previous terrible comedy tour of USA. Instead of staying in big chain motels where every room is identical across the continent (and around the world), he chose to stay in independently owned motels where each one is different. Instead of eating in big chain places like McDonalds and Starbucks, he chose independent restaurants. Instead of renting a modern car from a big chain hire shop like Hertz, he bought a 2nd hand car a...more

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Jun 25, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

I hit the motherload of books in the apartment building/hotel I was living at in Sydney! Someone left a whole bunch of travel books that I have been dying to read and usually I am very good about only swapping one for one because I don't want to be grabby, but I had to grab more then my share one day, because I just wanted to read them all! I put back books as a read them without taking more later. And this book was one of them.

I had read something by this author in the past and liked it, so of...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Feistytiger rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The plan was simple. Go to America. Buy a second-hand car. Drive coast-to-coast without giving any money to The Man. What could possibly go wrong? Dismayed by the relentless onslaught of faceless American chains muscling in where local businesses had once thrived, Dave Gorman set off on the ultimate American road trip - in search of the true, independent heart of the US of A. He would eat cherry pie from local diners, re-fuel at dusty gas stations and stock up on supplies from Mom and Pop's groc...more The plan was simple. Go to America. Buy a second-hand car. Drive coast-to-coast without giving any money to The Man. What could possibly go wrong? Dismayed by the relentless onslaught of faceless American chains muscling in where local businesses had once thrived, Dave Gorman set off on the ultimate American road trip - in search of the true, independent heart of the US of A. He would eat cherry pie from local diners, re-fuel at dusty gas stations and stock up on supplies from Mom and Pop's grocery store. At least that was the idea. But when did you last see an independent gas station? Gamely, Dave beds down in a Colorado trailer park, sleeps in an Oregon forest treehouse, and even spends Thanksgiving with a Mexican family in Kansas. But when his trip mutates into an odyssey of near-epic proportions and he finds himself being threatened at gun point in Mississippi, Dave starts to worry about what's going to break down next. The car...or him?
I have always wanted to drive from west to east cost america and was interested in how Dave did it. However he had a catch to his, no chains, which would make the journey that much harder. This book was a great insight to how you could try and cross america. You would think it easy, and that their were plenty of independent places and although he found some truly remarkable places, like the B&B in the shape of a Beagle. You could see some of the anguish and struggles he had.

I love Gorman's books he is a natural born writer and has a great wit about him. His books are amusing to read, easy to follow and unputdownable. I loved this book as i got a really good sense of the travels he was on and how he was feeling at the time. (something i strive for in all travel books but don't always get). The book is very witty and funny, easy to relate to and easy to get into.

You could tell all the issues he had, and are slightly jealous that he gets to make such a remarkable trip. The people he meets, some friendly some not, and you get a true feel to where he is and how he is feeling. A great book, I can't really fault it. Excellent read. (less)

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Apr 25, 2011 Sho rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sho by: Maggie Biegel

Shelves: non-fiction, travel-writing

I didn't know who Dave Gorman was - actually I'm still a little unclear - but when I mentioned that I like travel-writing an internet friend suggested this and then sent it to me. Cool.

I like travel books to have a theme and this one is quite interesting. Very interesting in fact. The plan was to drive from the west to the east coast of America using only independent retailers to refuel, overnight and buy supplies at. The great American tradition of the Mom & Pop store was to be tested, in f...more I didn't know who Dave Gorman was - actually I'm still a little unclear - but when I mentioned that I like travel-writing an internet friend suggested this and then sent it to me. Cool.

I like travel books to have a theme and this one is quite interesting. Very interesting in fact. The plan was to drive from the west to the east coast of America using only independent retailers to refuel, overnight and buy supplies at. The great American tradition of the Mom & Pop store was to be tested, in fact. I like the idea of this because although I've not been to America I have seen it on film and on TV and I have a lot of American friends. I live in Europe and I am often surprised (and not in a good way) that I could be in Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, London or Berlin (or Soltau, Sittard or Sheffield or countless other towns in Europe) and there will be retail outlets, hotels and petrol stations that I recognise.

Some are American, some European - but one thing is for sure: you could spend your life buying recognised branded petrol, food and whatever and never know you'd left your home town. I occasionally travel for work and it's quite depressing (since my trips are usually short) that I could be anywhere: Istanbul, Seoul, Paris... when I wake up in the middle of the night and wonder where I am, the room gives no clues.

Dave Gorman, and countless others, are of the same opinion: this can't be good. And therefore Dave decided to give it a kind of fun stress test. Becuase I'm sure, at least in the planning, it must have been huge fun. According to Plan A he was to start in LA, buy a car and drive accross the States. Buying the car was difficult, but eventually he bought a 70s Ford (don't ask me - I know nothing even about my own car outside of the fact that it is an estate (combi, station wagon - take your pick), silver and it runs on diesel. I tell a lie: he bought a Gran Torino station wagon. Apparently something of a classic.

Coast to coast the trip is around 3,000 miles but that sounds so much easier than it was. Especially since you consider that Plan A consisted solely of: buy car, drive accross without giving money to The Man (TM), sell car. He was writing the book along the way, and partly in order to fund the trip he took someone along to film the journey too. That in itself is a bit of an exciting side story.

That's all I'm going to say about the actual trip. About the book only a little more. It's well written, he definitely has a great turn of phrase, and it jogs along nicely giving the right amount of information about their search for independence. It is also very heart-on-sleeve about his beliefs in certain respects and there are some interesting asides in Salt Lake City and one Mom & Pop store in particular.

Give this one a try - if only to read about a bed 'n' breakfast place built in the shape of a beagle. Yes the dog.(less)

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Mar 03, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookcrossing, memoir-non-fiction, travel

The biggest draw in this story, for me, was to get to the end and learn if the author really was able to accomplish his mission. However, it turns out that the journey was pretty interesting, in itself. I'm sure there's a moral there somewhere -- something along the lines of "the destination not being as important as the journey". Nonetheless -- I enjoyed reading about all of the unbranded, "Mom and Pop" hotels they stayed in and restaurants they ate in. It's nice know that quirky spots like tha...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Raj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: travel-writing, humour

Is it possible to travel from one coast of the US to the other without giving any money to The Man? This is the question that Dave Gorman posed to himself after a tour of the States where he was taken from one identical hotel room to another to perform. So to counteract this, he decides to start in LA and travel to New York using only independent motels, diners, grocery stores and, most problematically, gas stations.

I find Dave Gorman a very entertaining writer, and this book had me laughing out...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Christopher Lane added it

Something that I would love to do with a few get out clauses. Dave Gorman decided to drive from Coast to Coast of America without giving any money to 'The Man'. That means no Starbucks, no McDonalds, he didn't mention them, but no Cracker Barrel (that would be my get out clause), no chain motels or hotels and obviously causing the most problem only filling up at independent gas stations. I wouldn't even know where an independent gas station is in the UK. By and large he almost does it, with a fe...more Something that I would love to do with a few get out clauses. Dave Gorman decided to drive from Coast to Coast of America without giving any money to 'The Man'. That means no Starbucks, no McDonalds, he didn't mention them, but no Cracker Barrel (that would be my get out clause), no chain motels or hotels and obviously causing the most problem only filling up at independent gas stations. I wouldn't even know where an independent gas station is in the UK. By and large he almost does it, with a few slip ups. I've seen Dave Gorman live and he is mostly hilarious with his logical approach to explain the absurd. He isn't a socialist or hippy in any straight forward sense. He just wanted to find out the 'real America'. To do that he feels he has to visit Mom and Pop motels and eateries. He meets some amazing people, and his self-imposed rules probably cause him to have a greater experience than a road trip relying on chains.

Initially he plans this as a personal holiday but according to his book, his agent talks him into having a single camera person and making it into a back-to-basics documentary. I have doubts at this stage how hard it was to talk him into this. Surely with the BBC picking up the tab he got much farther as it seems the Ford Tornino station wagon he bought, purely for aestetic purposes than practicality, couldn't go very far without something falling off, overheating or clunking out, causing constant mechanic bills. It is much a story about the making of a documentory than about the content itself. I say to his credit he is witty and as a writer he is more like a television editor. He jumps you around in a format I think similar to the Hangover films where the tragedy is known from the outset, but getting to that place is the story. For me this less used format kept me page turning and constantly interested.

Here's where I am critical. He seeks to find the 'Real America'. Now if American tourists come to Britain and want to see the Real Britain. They set off in an old Rover and zip through the Cotswolds, Devon Villages with a little shop with a bell of the door, and past red phone boxes in Kensington, then they are being patrionising as this is not the Real Britain. Real Britain is a town or city with a shopping centre exactly the same as the next, all possessing the four banks a Next a Costa Coffee and a WHSmith or in the North a Greggs Bakery every 5 paces. Outside the shopping centre before you turn off on a motorway, there is an industrial estate with a PC World, a Halfords and a B&Q, that is real Britain. In the same respect looking for the Real America and trying to find pockets of the 1950s in a 1970s soccer moms car is unrealistic. What you find are remnants of a bygone age, no more relevant to modern life than a replica Old West Saloon. Chains are a reality which have made our lives easier if culturally bland. I think this point was lost on him. It wasn't as if the petrol from and independent gas station came from an independent refinery, 'The Man' still got the money and Dave had to drive further to get it. In actuality you find the Real America when you clear passport control and leave the airport. There it is, the most technologically advanced economy in the world, and over there is an Arby's... deal!(less)

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Oct 12, 2012 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

c2008. I had watched the actual documentary that was filmed during this trip and I didn't recall it being outstandingly good. The book, though, was a good humorous read. Sadly, he didn't make it to the state that I prefer (Hawkeye!) but seemed set on visiting as many Independences as possible whilst traversing from coast to coast. I have been lucky enough to meet some really lovely hospitable and friendly people during my sojourns to the States and I am not at all surprised that the people Mr Go...more

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Aug 04, 2009 Fatatat rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this book thinking 'If it's anything like his stand-up for googlewack adventure it'll have me laughing out loud' and it did but that's not what sticks in my mind about this book. first is two points about Dave Gorman 1) He's got some guts and 2) He has actually lost at least a part of his mind! It was a fantastic book and a great way to get even a small idea of the small parts of America from a brit-eye-view. He talks about all the tiny bits of America that everyone one else has forg...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Rae Gee rated it 5 of 5 stars

A friend of mine sent me the book and DVD bundle. It came with a note which read, "Your documentaries will be like this!". I took it as high praise indeed.

Unchained America covers two of my favourite subjects: Small town America and "sticking it to the Man". It follows Dave and his sometimes long suffering film crew as they attempt to cross America without giving any money to any of the chains. That means hotels, food and petrol.

The book is great. Funny and fast paced it'll keep you glued to the...more

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Mar 01, 2011 A.J. rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked the premise of the road trip, although I did find it slightly ironic that Gorman was rejecting the idea of big chains and brands, while managing to milk the trip and his own personal brand for all it was worth, by making a documentary as part of it. The filming itself caused problems and threw the author into what can only be described as a full-on strop when he got to Moab in Utah. I lost a fair bit of respect for him there, and again at the point when the car's water pump failed and he...more

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Mar 28, 2010 Gary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After a 4 month tour of America doing his stand up routine a jaded Dave Gorman returns to the UK feeling his love affair with the States is over. Reflecting on his tour he realizes his frustrations lie within the faceless nature of corporate America, and so the idea is formed for rediscovering his love of America, the real America. The plan- a coast to coast road trip with just one stipulation, not to give any money to The Man.

This is his diary/travelogue, filled with bizarre and colorful charac...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, comedy

This was a really enjoyable read. I bought the DVD at the same time as the book, but decided to read the book first. In this, Dave Gorman decides he wants to drive from West Coast USA to East Coast spending no money with large companies, only "Mom and Pop" stores. His agent suggested making a film too, and the film almost becomes the downfall of the project.

Typically Dave Gorman, this book witty, silly, sad, happy - it's just a great read. And like all long journeys, it suddenly ends. Suddenly...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, travel

I was after a bit of roadtrip inspiration and picked up Dave Gorman's America Unchained off the shelves. After doing a US tour, he came home thinking he didn't like America very much but his problem was that he had only seem the soulless corporate side. He sets himself a mission to cross the country without giving any money to The Man, avoiding hotels, gas stations, cafes and shops that are part of any chain.

The journey ends up a little bit like one of those Top Gear specials where they buy old...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book while backpacking through SE Asia at a one-for-one trade bookshop. The premise intrigued me because I have been away from the USA for over 5 months and I have to admit, I am not thrilled with returning to the land of The Man. His insights into American culture were spot on and his predictions might just be too. I enjoyed learning more about my own country from an Englishman! All the eccentric, friendly, scary, and beautiful pieces of it.

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Nov 07, 2010 Mark Warner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I usually enjoy Dave Gorman's books and I really enjoyed the start of this... but after a while it seemed to get a bit repetitive. There was also a lot of factual information towards the end... and the ending seemed a bit rushed. It all came to an abrupt finish, but I suppose that was the nature of the journey.

It took me a few months to read this... not one of my favourite DG books, but an amazing journey nonetheless.

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Nov 29, 2011 Jana Eichhorn rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book, and why I loved it, can be summed up in the following quote from the last chapter:

"...these places - the good and the bad - are truer to the American spirit than anything the faceless, bland, and acceptably average corporations have to offer. The chains offer us a world in which average things are guaranteed... I'd rather live in a world in which fabulous things are possible. I'll take a rollercoaster instead of a train."

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Aug 03, 2011 Tobias added it

Very cheering, reading this is like being in his company to some extent. Has reinforced my desire to explore the States in a yet to be specified unusual way. If you enjoyed this you should also read Bill Bryson's book "The lost Continent - Travels in Small Town America" which is probably better written, funnier and also deeper than this book. But I still like Dave Gorman.

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Jan 15, 2010 Andrew Henderson rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who have lost faith in America.

Shelves: humour, favourites

This is not quite as funny as Gorman's two previous books but that's not where it's charm lies. It's description of the non-corporate small towns of America is what made me really fall for this story. I love that side of American culture, it's just a shame about the whole glitz and glamour side of the country which is always covered by the press.

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May 04, 2011 Adam Beddoe rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have read Dave's other books and would recommend them for really great holiday reads. The premise seems to take second place to Dave's personal journey and so certainly won't challenge you as Naomi Klein did in 'No Logo' but you can pick then up easily and if they don't make you chuckle you will have a wry smile on your face.

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Apr 24, 2012 Booksdingle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this in 2 days, was always gonna be an easy sell to me having been to lots of places in America, loving America and knowing Dave Gorman as being Danny Wallace's flatmate I knew I'd be in for a good read. I did enjoy it, was nice to hear about the less commercial aspects of America and could really imagine the places he was describing, but it was repetative in parts and not as funny as I had envisaged - it didn't have to be, I was just expecting it to be. I'm a big fan of Danny Wallace and...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Ronald rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a joyful adventure to go on, traveling coast to coast across the USA and only using independent and local businesses, stores and gas stations. When he attempted this it was almost impossible, these few years later I think it would be. A fun and informative read that had me turning the pages.

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Sep 01, 2012 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mainly read this because I am going to drive across the USA next year and thought this would give me some tips. The book is hugely amusing. Basically Dave Gorman wants to drive from the west coast to the east coast without using any chain hotels, restaurants and petrol stations. He also does the trip in a very old Ford Torino Estate car which keeps breaking down. I have not laughed so much in ages. Also found the stories of how helpful the American people were to be very touching.

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Apr 18, 2008 Alan Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: will

Shelves: travel

Book title: America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip In Search of Non-Corporate USA (Paperback)

Dave Gorman sets off across America to see if he can travel the Country without using any chain businesses, including petrol stations.

In the Ford Torino station wagon (yes Starsky and Hutch drove a Torino, but there's was the saloon version), he sets off with a film director for company who's job it is to make a film of the trip. Along the way he run's into all sorts of different characters and place...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Victoria Pearson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

This was an OK book, but a bit self-pitying in places. Not really sure about the conclusions he draws at the end of the book. It is like he has been told he had to draw it all together profoundly but in my view he fails.

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Sep 02, 2012 Neil rated it 4 of 5 stars

Overall I liked the book, its not especially funny in the laugh out loud sense, but it has a definite sense of purpose running through the book. You get to see a side of America that is sadly disapearing fast in the face of chain stores and businesses and see both the good and bad aspects of the old "mom and pop" type of business.

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Dec 02, 2010 Ellison Kuhne Andert rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mr. Gorman is supposed to be a comedian, but mostly, he just seems depressed. Even so, his unchained roadtrip through America is interesting, and the last few pages elevate it to a higher plane.

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May 05, 2010 Tim Heywood rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-borrowed

More factual Dave Gorman, this time blitzing the hidden parts of America in a 70's Torino, just like any other road trip novel, yet with Dave Gorman's particular insights and peculiarities.

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Aug 04, 2011 Malcolm rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great - I'd like to do the trip myself.

Still at least he could do it more or less...can't see it happening in the UK (where are the independent petrol stations)

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Dec 29, 2008 Julie Jenkins is currently reading it

I'm about a third of the way through, and I like it better than the TV programme for the obvious reason that there is much more detail in the book.

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About Dave Gorman

David James Gorman is an English author, stand-up comedian and presenter. He has performed comedy shows on stage in which he tells stories of extreme adventures and presents the evidence to the audience in order to prove to them that they are true stories. He was a stand-up comedian before he became famous for Are You Dave Gorman?, then took a break from normal stand-up. He returned to stand-up in...more

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